Dawn of the amphora: the emergence of maritime transport jars in the Early Bronze Age Aegean

In the early part of the Early Bronze (EB) II period, the Aegean world sees the appearance of the collared jar, the first ceramic Maritime Transport Container (MTC) of the region. Based on a study and scientific analyses of hundreds of EB II transport jars, focusing on the harbour towns of Poros-Katsambas on Crete, Akrotiri on Thera and Ayia Irini on Kea, we identify some of the key production areas in both the Cyclades (Kea, Siphnos, Melos, Naxos, Thera) and on mainland Greece (Attica). In addition to surveying the spatial and temporal distribution of these EB II jar types at a number of key Aegean coastal sites, we consider the high value liquid commodity being transported and exchanged in these jars, and suggest wine as a likely candidate. We argue that the emergence of the transport jar in EB II should be viewed as part of the same phenomenon as the outburst of pouring and drinking vessels in contemporary Aegean contexts, all evidence for new social practices of drinking and feasting in the private and public spheres

QCD perturbation theory at large orders with large renormalization scales in the large β0\beta_0 limit

We examine the QCD perturbation series at large orders, for different values of the 'large $\beta_0$ renormalization scale'. It is found that if we let this scale grow exponentially with the order, the divergent series can be turned into an expansion that converges to the Borel integral, with a certain cut off. In the case of the first IR renormalon at $2/\beta_0$, corresponding to a dimension four operator in the operator product expansion, this qualitatively improves the perturbative predictions. Furthermore, our results allow us to establish formulations of the principle of minimal sensitivity and the fastest apparent convergence criterion that result in a convergent expansion.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, elaborated conclusion

The Non-Trivial Effective Potential of the `Trivial' lambda Phi^4 Theory: A Lattice Test

The strong evidence for the `triviality' of (lambda Phi^4)_4 theory is not incompatible with spontaneous symmetry breaking. Indeed, for a `trivial' theory the effective potential should be given exactly by the classical potential plus the free-field zero-point energy of the shifted field; i.e., by the one-loop effective potential. When this is renormalized in a simple, but nonperturbative way, one finds, self-consistently, that the shifted field does become non-interacting in the continuum limit. For a classically scale-invariant (CSI) lambda Phi^4 theory one finds m_h^2 = 8 pi^2 v^2, predicting a 2.2 TeV Higgs boson. Here we extend our earlier work in three ways: (i) we discuss the analogy with the hard-sphere Bose gas; (ii) we extend the analysis from the CSI case to the general case; and (iii) we propose a test of the predicted shape of the effective potential that could be tested in a lattice simulation.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, DE-FG05-92ER40717-

What is the prevalence, and what are the clinical correlates, of insulin resistance in young people presenting for mental health care? A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To report the distribution and predictors of insulin resistance (IR) in young people presenting to primary care-based mental health services. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Headspace-linked clinics operated by the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney. Participants: 768 young people (66% female, mean age 19.7±3.5, range 12–30 years). Main outcome measures: IR was estimated using the updated homeostatic model assessment (HOMA2-IR). Height and weight were collected from direct measurement or self-report for body mass index (BMI). Results: For BMI, 20.6% of the cohort were overweight and 10.2% were obese. However,6.9 mmol/L). By contrast, 9.9% had a HOMA2-IR score \u3e2.0 (suggesting development of IR) and 11.7% (n=90) had a score between 1.5 and 2. Further, there was a positive correlation between BMI and HOMA2-IR (r=0.44, p Conclusions: Emerging IR is evident in a significant subgroup of young people presenting to primary care based mental health services. While the major modifiable risk factor is BMI, a large proportion of the variance is not accounted for by other demographic, clinical or treatment factors. Given the early emergence of IR, secondary prevention interventions may need to commence prior to the development of full-threshold or major mood or psychotic disorders

A shift in balance between profibrinolytic and antifibrinolytic factors causes enhanced fibrinolysis in cirrhosis

The aim of this study was to assess the cause of enhanced fibrinolysis in cirrhosis by studying the balance between profibrinolytic and antifibrinolytic proteins in 24 patients with mild or severe cirrhosis. Antigen levels of both tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1 were increased in mild and severe cirrhosis. Activity levels showed a very wide variability, but median activity levels of both proteins were normal. In most patients, the increase in tissue-type plasminogen activator was counterbalanced by the increased levels of plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1, but in a subgroup of patients the change in balance resulted in extremely high tissue-type plasminogen-activator levels. The specific activity of both proteins (activity/ antigen quotient) was reduced in either mild or severe cirrhosis. This finding indicates either that more enzyme-inhibitor complexes circulate in the blood of patients with cirrhosis than in normal individuals or that dysfunctional molecules circulate. Plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin antigen and activity levels were decreased in both mild and severe cirrhosis. The binding of α2-antiplasmin to fibrin was decreased in severe cirrhosis, making fibrin clots more susceptible to lysis. Clot lysis experiments were performed to see if equal decreases in plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin levels, as found in cirrhosis, result in a change in the rate of fibrinolysis. It was found that the proportionate decreases led to enhancement of fibrinolysis, indicating that the inhibitor depletion is more important than the proenzyme depletion. The authors conclude that enhanced fibrinolysis frequently found in cirrhosis may be attributed to an increased tissuetype plasminogen-activator activity relative to plasminogen-activator-inhibitor activity and decreased levels of α2-antiplasmin, resulting in a reduced binding of α2-antiplasmin to fibrin.</p

A shift in balance between profibrinolytic and antifibrinolytic factors causes enhanced fibrinolysis in cirrhosis

The aim of this study was to assess the cause of enhanced fibrinolysis in cirrhosis by studying the balance between profibrinolytic and antifibrinolytic proteins in 24 patients with mild or severe cirrhosis. Antigen levels of both tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1 were increased in mild and severe cirrhosis. Activity levels showed a very wide variability, but median activity levels of both proteins were normal. In most patients, the increase in tissue-type plasminogen activator was counterbalanced by the increased levels of plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1, but in a subgroup of patients the change in balance resulted in extremely high tissue-type plasminogen-activator levels. The specific activity of both proteins (activity/ antigen quotient) was reduced in either mild or severe cirrhosis. This finding indicates either that more enzyme-inhibitor complexes circulate in the blood of patients with cirrhosis than in normal individuals or that dysfunctional molecules circulate. Plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin antigen and activity levels were decreased in both mild and severe cirrhosis. The binding of α2-antiplasmin to fibrin was decreased in severe cirrhosis, making fibrin clots more susceptible to lysis. Clot lysis experiments were performed to see if equal decreases in plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin levels, as found in cirrhosis, result in a change in the rate of fibrinolysis. It was found that the proportionate decreases led to enhancement of fibrinolysis, indicating that the inhibitor depletion is more important than the proenzyme depletion. The authors conclude that enhanced fibrinolysis frequently found in cirrhosis may be attributed to an increased tissuetype plasminogen-activator activity relative to plasminogen-activator-inhibitor activity and decreased levels of α2-antiplasmin, resulting in a reduced binding of α2-antiplasmin to fibrin.</p

Scale Setting in QCD and the Momentum Flow in Feynman Diagrams

We present a formalism to evaluate QCD diagrams with a single virtual gluon using a running coupling constant at the vertices. This method, which corresponds to an all-order resummation of certain terms in a perturbative series, provides a description of the momentum flow through the gluon propagator. It can be viewed as a generalization of the scale-setting prescription of Brodsky, Lepage and Mackenzie to all orders in perturbation theory. In particular, the approach can be used to investigate why in some cases the ``typical'' momenta in a loop diagram are different from the ``natural'' scale of the process. It offers an intuitive understanding of the appearance of infrared renormalons in perturbation theory and their connection to the rate of convergence of a perturbative series. Moreover, it allows one to separate short- and long-distance contributions by introducing a hard factorization scale. Several applications to one- and two-scale problems are discussed in detail.Comment: eqs.(51) and (83) corrected, minor typographic changes mad

Developing poetry as a research methodology with rarer forms of dementia: Four research protocols

People living with rarer forms of dementia tend to have progressive cognitive symptoms affecting skills other than memory and/ or onset before the age of 65 years. They are often misdiagnosed and due to symptom profile or age of onset, do not usually fit well with care pathways designed for older people with typical Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Although the arts have been increasingly used as interventions to support people with dementia, there is very little attention given to rarer dementia forms in arts and health research or practice. The objective of the present international study seeks to systematically explore four diverse forms of poetry writing within this population through virtual and in-person small and large group formats. Our approach includes investigating poetic processes as methodology through the lens of an arts-based methodological approach in order to explore how poems construct knowledge and a felt experience. We will also use more traditional qualitative approaches to understand the experience of writing, reading and listening to poetry as an intervention that can be used with different rarer forms of dementia. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first study to explore poetry using multiple research protocols. The results will have implications for methodology development, co-constructed poetic inquiry and multiple opportunities for involving poetry in supporting people with dementia and family members

Perturbed angular correlations for Gd in gadolinium: in-beam comparisons of relative magnetizations

Perturbed angular correlations were measured for Gd ions implanted into gadolinium foils following Coulomb excitation with 40 MeV O-16 beams. A technique for measuring the relative magnetizations of ferromagnetic gadolinium hosts under in-beam conditions is described and discussed. The combined electric-quadrupole and magnetic-dipole interaction is evaluated. The effect of nuclei implanted onto damaged or non-substitutional sites is assessed, as is the effect of misalignment between the internal hyperfine field and the external polarizing field. Thermal effects due to beam heating are discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in NIM